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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. field — for sport
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. cell — in biology
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. shower — rain
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. field — farmland
  15. foot — a measure
  16. land — a country
  17. field — a subject
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. land — ground
  20. land — to come down
  21. rush — hurry
  22. cell — a phone
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. shower — to wash

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com